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Type | Private university |
---|---|
Established | 1986 |
Accreditation | ABHE |
President | James Song |
Location | , , United States 38°50′00″N 90°49′58″W / 38.83333°N 90.83271°W |
Affiliations | Federation of Christian Schools in Korea (FCSK)
[1] International Evangelical Association (IEA) [1] |
Website | www.midwest.edu |
Midwest University is a private Evangelical Christian university in Wentzville, Missouri. [2] Founded in 1986 by James Song as the Midwest College and Theological Seminary, the school aspires to provide biblically-based higher education to its students. [3] [4] Described by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2000 as a “Korean seminary” with students from more than sixty countries, Midwest has sought to expand its local student population. [5] [6]
Midwest University now offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through face-to-face, online, and distance education. [1] [7] In addition to its 17-acre (6.9 ha) residential campus, [5] the university operates a business incubation center in Jefferson City, Missouri, [8] a teaching site near Washington, D.C., [1] and an international site at the Korea Christian Building in Seoul, South Korea. [9]
Midwest University is organized into five colleges: the College of International Aviation, the College of International Business/Leadership, the College of Music, the College of Education, and the College of Theology/Graduate School of Theology. [10] Together, the university's colleges offer four undergraduate majors, including traditional and adult degree completion programs. They also offer ten graduate degree programs and two certificate programs. [11]
Courses are offered primarily in the Korean language, and also in English. The university library has a multilingual collection with many library materials are available in both Korean and English. [5] [12]
According to the school, its 2017–2018 undergraduate graduation rate is 42%, and its undergraduate retention rate is 94%. Also according to the school, the job placement rate for students completing undergraduate and graduate programs is 97.6%. [13]
In September 2000, the university's undergraduate programs were accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS). [3] [14] Beginning in November 2004, its graduate programs were also accredited by TRACS. [3] [14] Midwest withdrew from TRACS in October 2010. [3] [14] According to the U.S. Department of Education the school was unaccredited from 2010 to 2013. [15]
In August 2007, Korea JoongAng Daily described Midwest University one of several " diploma mills, unaccredited institutions that issue questionable academic degrees”, stating that it had issued 39 "fake degrees" since January 2003. [16]
In November 2011, Midwest was granted applicant status by nationally recognized accrediting organization Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE). [3] It was preaccredited in February 2013, and since February 2015, Midwest is accredited by ABHE. [14] [17] The university's Graduate School of Theology is an associate member of, but is not accredited by nor a candidate for accreditation with, the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. [18] [19]
The school's Midwest International Research Institute in Jefferson City, Missouri, is a "business incubation center", providing job training, skills development, and English-language courses. Students come from South Korea, as well as other places in Asia, for between six months and two years. [8]